Funny Name
by the-meek
Summary: When Hiccup meets his new neighbor, he makes a wonderful first impression by being beaten into the ground. Hijack or frostcup action. RotG / HTTYD Jack Frost / Hiccup Haddock. (Rating may change in later chapters)
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

"This man… _must _be crazy…"

I muttered silently to myself as school continued slowly on. My teacher, (the only teacher with a degree in Berk) had just sent his head into the not-so-soft pillow of his desk with a "Wham!" accompanied by a loud, obnoxious snore. This was a regular ritual by now. He would start the lesson off with almost too much energy, but halfway through, would start to yawn. Then, in the final stretches of what he had to say, would collapse on his desk and promptly pass out.

On any other day I might find this amusing, but today it just pissed me off. I curled one hand up into a fist and sat it underneath my chin, leaning my elbow on the desk. My cheek pushed upward by the motion, blocking half of the view out of my right eye. "Well that's just grand. Now I guess I'm still the volunteer for Saturday's practice. That's going to make Dad sooo proud, huh?"

I let out an exasperated sigh, letting my head fall down into the desk, much like 's had. I rarely asked for things from my dad. This was caused halfway by the mere intimidation my father held, but also my basic social-awkwardness and inability to stop mumbling. Stoick "The Vast" Haddock (a title he put all of his pride in), is my father. This name doesn't exaggerate. He was the tallest, broadest, and bulkiest man in town.

I was the scrawniest teen. I was in great shape for my size actually, had a nice six pack even, but when you compared my short and lanky self to the rest of the people in town (girls included) I just wasn't up to par. This little fact never became more apparent to me than when I was standing next to my father, talking about sports.

I shuddered at the thought, but was interrupted by the loud wheezing of the outdated intercom's bell. This brought a small frown to my face while the rest of the class let out relieved whoops and cheers. It was Friday, but I definitely wasn't happy about it. I lifted my head from the desk and gathered the papers on it into a small pile.

Almost all of them had random doodles lining their edges. Some of them were scribbles of people I knew, others of objects I saw, but the best ones were always the dragons. I don't know why I still liked them so much, honestly. There was just something extremely intriguing to me about flying monsters that breathed fire. Like that didn't make me sound like a five year old or anything…

I once again let out a sigh, and quietly stuffed them into my backpack. I was about to stand up when I felt a small slap on my shoulder. Astrid laughed at my surprised face as I flinched away from the gesture. "Calm down, short stack, geez." She teased as I gave a small pout at the unwanted nickname.

"Oh shut up." I answered grumpily, sending Astrid into a giggle. Even if she was my friend, she couldn't help but pick on me about my size once in a while. "Don't be so grumpy, I've got good news... But I could always just leave if you don't wanna hear it…" she joked, pretending to walk way. I paid her no mind, too fed up with life to do so. "Good news? What do you mean?" I asked, ignoring her earlier threat of walking away. She turned back to me with a sly smile, "What's this? Short stack actually wants to hear me talk for once?" she mocked. I rolled my eyes, "Yes he does… just this once though."

The girl pushed out a breath, blowing her blonde bangs out of her eyes. "Gosh, so cruel. So guess what?" She asked, intent on dragging out my patience. I gave her a glare, seeing right through her. "Can't you just tell me?" I asked, too mentally drained to think up a snarky comeback. Astrid looked a little put off by my lack of interest, but she could tell when done was done.

Putting her joking aside, "Ok, fine." She gave me a look of triumph. "Then guess who took your spot as volunteer next Saturday." She said, throwing a knowing glance over at me, currently pushing my chair back into the desk after standing. I raised my eyebrows suddenly, "Astrid? You didn't!" I stood up board straight, concern covering my features.

She raised her hand to stop me, "No need to thank me. I don't know what you're doing, but whatever it is, it's obviously more important than some stupid football practice." She said, smiling. My face held the same worried expression for a moment, but quickly fell into a laid-back grin. I scratched at the back of my neck. "Um… thanks Astrid, uh… really, that's perfect actually. Thanks…" I trailed off, fading into my usual awkward mumbles.

Astrid couldn't help but laugh. "Yeah, yeah. I know I'm the best." She said, throwing me a wink. I rolled my eyes again, falling back into normal conversation with the girl. We walked out of the old school together, leaving the sleeping bear of a teacher behind. We talked about recent assignments, Astrid's new sports stories, and my artistic endeavors.

I carefully evaded any question about what might be happening on Saturday, much to her dislike. We walked along the roads and rows of houses to her house, where we said our goodbyes for the day. Other teens that lived on and around the same road walked their way home as well, since everyone lived in the same general area. Berk was a small town; that much was for certain.

I trudged along, feeling the loss of felling in my nose as the temperature dropped ever lower. There had been a warning for snow later on that night, but I was sure that my bad luck would bring it sooner, like it always had. I tried to get myself into a better mood, attempting to locate a fake smile to put on display for my Dad.

A least today I would no longer have to explain that yes, I would be going to practice, but that no, I wouldn't be playing. I always got chosen as the "volunteer" trainer. It was a less-than-fun job and I knew that Astrid was really being generous by taking it over for me. Pulling angry, injured players off the field and forcing them to drink something wasn't exactly anyone's idea of the best Saturday. But now that I was off the hook…

I found myself on the home stretch of the walk home when I heard my cousin's sneering laughter behind me. "Hey Hic!" He called, putting extreme emphasis on the name. "Heard you dropped out of the volunteer next Saturday. Letting a girl take your spot? Not like I reject to that, I mean I'd rather see Astrid's face than yours any day, but seriously? Come on. How much of a wimp can you be?" He jeered, jogging up to my side with his friends not far behind. They were surrounding me on all sides, elbowing me in the ribs with each remark Snotlout made.

My blood boiled with each comment, building up a silent pressure inside. Don't say anything Hiccup. Your house is just a short walk away. Don't say-"Would you just shut up Snotlout?" I grumbled, looking down.

The comment didn't go unnoticed by my prideful companion. "What did you say?" He asked, suddenly gripping the collar of my shirt and forcing me to turn. I knew that was a bad idea… why did I never listen to my intuition? God, what an idiot. I laughed nervously, fear reaching up into my eyes. "Uh, um… I mean, er… Please?" I whispered, immediately knowing that would not be the right answer.

Snotlout's face was turned up into a grimace. He only glared at me as he slowly raised his fist up past his ear, "Wanna try that again?" He asked, his voice coming out in a deep growl. This was not good. This was really, really, really not good. I brought my hands up to the sides of my face, signaling surrender. "Sorry! Sorry! It won't happen again!" I whimpered, trying anything to get the other boy to loosen his grip. All of Snotlout's friends that had gathered around us growled out insults, egging him on, pushing him to take one out on me.

Sad to say, but it didn't take much.

Snotlout pulled back, a menacing grin on his face as he spat into my face, "_You bet it won't_." I cringed in fear, trying to guard my face with upturned hands, to no avail. Snotlout's fist collided with my right cheek, sending me to the ground. He was going easy this time.

My left side hit the hard cement of the sidewalk, sending pain pulsing through me. The impact left me with an immediate headache. I groaned in pain as I opened my eyes, trying to see which attack would be next. All of the boys stared down at me with amused grins. From my back came another round of pain as a booted foot barreled into it. I curled into a ball, awaiting the many other kicks that would soon be coming from all sides.

"Hey!" someone called from behind us, a voice I didn't recognize. None of the anticipated kicks came, as the call had interrupted them. I slowly opened my eyes again, careful not to look any of the boys directly in the eye. Coming from the doorstep of the house behind them, a boy stood. Trying not to move too much, I could only see him out of my peripheral vision. From this view, all I could pick out was a dark blue hoodie.

"You mind _not _beating someone up right in front of my house? It's kinda annoying to clean blood out of cement." He said, before disappearing from my sight as he walked toward the group. I could hear the boys' surprised grunts as his footsteps drew closer to them.

What was he doing? I was frozen in my position on the sidewalk, too scared to move. It was especially quiet now that he was standing on the edge of the circle. "Besides, what's so fun about an entire group ganging up on one person?" The boy challenged, bringing further wonder from me.

Behind my shoulder, I could sense the tension that came over Snotlout. "And just who the hell are you?" He asked, with all the social grace his ugly mug could muster. I heard the boy move away, walking back into his yard, into my vision. He picked up something from the porch, but I couldn't tell what it was.

"Does that mean I'm going to have to _force_ you away?" he asked, some humor slipping into his voice. Snotlout coughed a laugh. "Just what you gonna do? Hit us with that little stick of yours?" He mocked.

Oh, so that's what it was. The boy disappeared from view again as he approached the group. Snotlout stepped over me, crossing over to the boy. All eyes were on the strange guy instead of me now, so I turned slightly, trying to get a better view.

"_He has white hair_." Of course that would be the first thing that crossed my mind. Not something helpful, like say, "_He's pointing a big stick at Snotlout's face._" Realizing this, I crept up to a sitting position as the two boys stepped closer together. "Actually, yes. That is exactly what I plan to do." The white-haired boy said, a smile coming over his lips.

My eyes widened in surprise and awe. No one had ever stood up to Snotlout before. Well, except for Astrid, but they had tried to keep that one on the down low. He could see Snotlout's breathing becoming heavier with his anger. "Yeah? I'd like to see you try." He threatened. This only brought a wider grin to the other guy's face.

The boy laughed a few times, obviously enjoying something. "Okaaaaay. But don't say you weren't asking for it." He said, but before Snotout could process the words, he had swung the crooked side of the stick down to his knees, jerking them forward. Snotlout fell with a surprised cry, looking back up angrily at the boy. "I'll smash your face in you-!"

His sentence was cut short as the stick came slapping over the side of his face, knocking him over. He landed on the cement just like I had. All of the boys shuffled back a few steps, worried by this new competitor. The boy laughed, and it pealed happily through the woods behind his house and echoed through the neighborhoods surrounding them. "I told you!" He said, still in good humor.

Snotlout jumped to his feet in one second, a growling noise making its way up into his throat. He rushed at the boy, but he only dodged swiftly to the side, leaving the other to trip into his lawn. This brought him into pure hysterics, looking at his sprawled out form on the ground. The boy walked over to him, rolling the confused and disoriented giant to his back.

"I would get out of here before I decide to really _kick_ you out." He said, one foot on top of the other's chest. Snotlout quickly swatted it off of him, scurrying to the side in an attempt to get away. He stood up with the same confused and defeated expression. It quickly soured into an angry, vengeful scowl. "C'mon." He told the others, motioning with his head in the opposite direction.

All of their faces lit up in surprise and fear as they scampered back to their leader's side. Snotlout sent me one last glare on the ground where I still sat. "Don't think this is the end yet, _Hic_." He threatened. Then he turned on his heel and walked with the group down the next road over.

I sat in amazement, unable to take my eyes off of the retreating group. Did Snotlout just _lose_? Against a skinny boy like that?! I found a small grin slowly slinking up the side of my face, only to notice the pain it caused my cheeks. "Ouch…" I mumbled, reaching up to rub at my new wounds. A cold hand stopped me in my tracks. "Don't touch it… it's bleeding." He explained, pushing my hand back down to the side.

The boy had a gentle and comforting expression on. He grabbed onto my other hand and helped me up off the cement. "Uh, um… t-thanks." I managed to push past my already stuttering lips. The boy shook his head, "Eh, it's no problem. I can't stand guys like that."

I dusted myself off a few times, feeling new bruises beginning to form along my side. "Well, crap." I grumbled, noticing a rip at the knee of my left pant leg. The boy leaned over to examine it, "So you've got some scrapes down there too, huh?" he asked to himself. He looked back up at me with a friendly smile, "Here, come with me." He said, pointing over to the house behind him.

I was confused for a moment, but then realized that the he was already moving in the house's direction. Without thinking, my legs moved themselves to the space behind him. As he opened the door to let me inside, he turned back around saying, "My name's Jackson, by the way. Jackson Overland Frost, but you can call me Jack."

He closed the door once I was fully inside, and I turned to face him, "Ah… Hiccup." I said, ducking my head into a nod. The other boy's eyebrows rose in question, "Pardon?"

I shook my head a few times, trying to act normal. "Oh, um, I mean my name is… uh, Hiccup." I stuttered. That was just beautiful. Great first impression there. To my surprise the other boy chuckled. "Is that like a nickname?" He asked, genuinely intrigued. I looked over the smiling boy, wondering why he had helped me in the first place. "Nope. My name really is Hiccup." I said, ashamedly.

I crossed past him further into the house, leading towards the stairs. "That's actually really cool. If not a little funny." I told him. His face lit up in wonder at the praise, blushing a little behind the scratches on his cheeks. "Uhm… thanks I guess?"

I laughed at his reaction, quickly scaling the first few stairs. "Here, I'll go get the first aid kit." I told him, walking a little bit quicker up them. Hiccup let out a noise of rejection, stopping me. "That's ok, actually." He spoke up meekly, "My house is the one right next to this one so…" He let the sentence trail off a little. He swayed back and forth awkwardly for a second, contemplating what to say next.

"I'm used to these kinds of things happening so I'll, um, just get cleaned up at my place." He said, excusing himself from the room. I didn't really hear any of it except for a specific part. "So you're my neighbor, then?" I asked, climbing back down the stairs, excitement brightening my features. He turned back from his retreat out the door. "Well, yeah. Typically the people who live in the house next to you are called neighbors." He chided, and for a moment a small smirk crossed his features.

His attempt at dry humor made me laugh once again. "So I'll get to see you again today, then. We're still unpacking so it'll be a bit later but… still kinda fun to meet earlier than formal introductions, huh?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation up and running. He sheepishly dug his foot into the carpet. A normal move, but something about it seemed… off?

I tried to pay it no mind, keeping to my own business. "Wait right here and I'll be right back. You can wash your face in the kitchen sink. There's a towel beside it." I told him, once again rushing up the stairs. I passed my uncle Aster's room, already unpacked and cleaned of empty boxes. I never did understand how he got things done so quickly. Inwardly congratulating the man, seeing as how he wasn't in the house, I made my way to the other side of the hallway into the bathroom.

It was… pink.

It made me frown a little each time I saw it. Whoever had been living in the house before us had certainly liked the color, because it was the same as two others in the house. We had unpacked this room earlier, so I knew exactly where to find the kit. Pulling a cabinet door open, I grabbed the white box out of a corner.

It knocked over a few bottles on the trek out, but I left those as they were, trying to get back to the boy in my living room as quick as I could. A couple seconds later I was back on ground level with the box. Hiccup still looked a little freaked out by the whole ordeal, but I decided he would just have to get over it. In his current condition I couldn't let him just go home. He didn't seem like the type that really know anything about treating wounds.

I walked toward the opening into the kitchen just as he was just getting back to the living room from washing his face. The kitchen, of course, just had to be pink. Embarrassing as it was, I still flipped on the light switch (since he was too timid to turn it on when he was in there earlier, apparently). The kitchen had the brightest lighting in the house, so it would be good to treat him in there. I pulled a chair out from under the large wooden table in the center of the room. "Take a seat." I told him, sitting down in the chair next to it.

He looked at the chair and back at me a couple times, approaching slowly. It looked like a kitten getting used to its new home. I had to chuckle under my breath at the thought of that. "Come on." I told him, smirking a bit. "I don't bite… often."

At this he raised a cowardly half-smile, trying to be polite, but I could tell he was still scared. Be it from the pain, surprise from what just happened, his own uncoordinated nature, or a mix of all three, he was visibly shaking. I felt bad for the poor guy. He was pretty scrawny, so it wasn't really a wonder why they had decided to pick on him.

Stupid as that reason was, it was probably the truth. Once Hiccup had finally settled down into the chair, calming down slightly, I picked through the kit until I came across the bottle of hydrogen peroxide and some cotton balls. I twisted the lid off of the top of the bottle and drizzled some of the liquid onto one of the white puffs.

He reached his hand out for it, but I just pushed past it, and started to wipe at the scrapes myself. At first his face only held surprise, but then one eye closed as the peroxide stung at him. A small hiss escaped his clenched lips as I continued on to his other cheek. "Sorryyy. Just give me two more seconds." I told him, cleaning out the last few raw spots. As soon as it was done, he sighed in relief.

I gave him a weak smile as I picked back through the kit. Finding the small tube of Neosporin and a few Q-tips, I set to work on getting the scrapes covered with something. By now he had accepted that he wasn't allowed to treat his own face and leaned in a little as I carefully applied the cream. "So, what was that all about anyway?" I asked him, cutting through the silence.

He gulped a little and laughed nervously, "Heh. Well they would've found anything as an excuse really. That was my cousin, Snotlout." He explained. I blinked in surprise, "Your _cousin_? Geez what kind of family problems do you have?" I asked in amazement, realizing too late that it was probably a personal question. I immediately pushed away the thought with a wave of my hand, "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

He shook his head slightly and gave a small smile, "Nah, it's fine. I can see how it would look to an outsider. Honestly, we've never gotten along." He said, a bit of a sigh escaping his lips. "So basically, he hates me because I'm the heir to the family business and not him. Ouch!" He yelped as I accidently pressed too hard into one of the cuts. "Sorry! Sorry!" I apologized quickly.

"So this family business or whatever, is it really such a big deal?" I asked, wondering how something so simple could cause someone to beat up their own cousin. He tilted his head to the side a little. The light that fell on his jawline found scars much like the ones I was cleaning up now. The freckles on his cheeks helped to hide the higher ones. How many times had this happened before?

"Well it's more of a status thing… I guess? Anyway, my Dad's the current president and he fully plans for me to inherit the company." He said, deflating a little more. I got the feeling I was only making him feel worse. Way to go, Jack, way to go. I laughed off the comment, trying to find something easier to talk about. "So are all the people here like that? I mean, I'm sure I just made an absolutely wonderful impression on your cousin there, but I'd like to know if I just completely screwed myself over on a social life." I said, throwing him a teasing smile.

He smirked a little, "Sorry to say, but your bravery has been in vain, young knight. Snotlout and his buddies are the biggest whiney-babies of all time. So by tomorrow, you'll either be known as a great hero among the dorks, or a menace among the socially adept."

I let out a good laugh at that, a full grin covering my features and wrinkling the corners of my eyes. "I honestly like that." I said in earnest. Finishing up with the Neosporin, I covered the major scratches with a Band-Aid or two, leaving the rest to heal on their own. "That should fix you up." I said, leaning back in the chair. I turned sideways to rest my back on the table, and pulled one leg up to my chest, letting the other dangle at my side.

He looked relieved, and gently prodded at the side of one of the bandages. "Uh thanks, Jack for, um well, _this_…" He said, pointing his finger in a circle around his face, "and of course helping me back there."

I shrugged my shoulders, accepting it. "So you'll be coming to school tomorrow then. Why so soon?" He asked, bringing both of his legs up in the chair and peeping up over his knees. I shrugged again, "Eh, it's no fun being stuck at home unpacking all day. I'd rather go ahead and get started I guess."

Almost as soon as I had ended the sentence, a ringtone went off. Hiccup gave a surprised jump at it, still edgy from his earlier nerves I was guessing. He pulled a green cell phone out of his pocket and flipped its top over. I could hear a deep mumbling coming out of the speaker as he lifted it to his ear.

"Oh, uh, hey Astrid." He said. Giving him some privacy, I walked up and went to the fridge. Inside, there wasn't much of anything. We hadn't gone shopping since the move, so we only brought what little food we could stuff inside an ice chest. Giving up on that search, I aimed for the bag of chips on the counter instead.

"Well, _duh_, it happened again. Doesn't it always? It's not like they're just going to stop right out of the blue." He said, an annoyed look coming over him. "Yeah, yeah. I know that. It's just that I really _can't_ do anything about it. You know where I stand on the whole thing."

I ripped the bag open and reached inside for two or three. "Ok, ok! I will but I'm um, kinda busy at the moment so can't we talk about this later?" Stuffing them in my mouth, I sat back down in the chair. "Mhmm, yep. Yes, thank you _mom_ that's very helpful. Ok, bye." He said, rolling his eyes as he snapped the phone shut again.

I tilted the bag towards him. "Want some?" I asked, taking up my former position. He shook his head, "Thanks, but no thanks. I've gotta get home soon." He said, standing up from the chair. I laid the bag of chips on the table and pouted a little, "Leaving me so soon?" I asked, standing up beside him. He seemed to have warmed up to me a little as he shook his head and laughed. "Sorry, but it's not like you won't be seeing my gorgeous face again in a couple of hours anyway." He said, smirking.

I pulled on a smirk of my own, and snapped my fingers in fake disappointment, "Darn! And here I was thinking I'd get to just stare at you and your pretty bandages all day." I let out a huge sigh, bringing him to a chuckle as we ended up at the door. I opened it for him once again, and he led himself outside. It was still pretty early in the evening even though it seemed like the time it took us to patch up his face had taken a bit of time.

He gave me a small two fingered salute as he made his way down to the sidewalk from the porch. "See you in a while then, I guess." He said, pausing only momentarily for my answer. "Yeah, see ya." I told him, stepping back into the house a little ways. He nodded, then turned around and made a beeline for his house to the right. I shut the door as he was walking and went to go put up the chips. That's when I suddenly remembered that he had injured his knee as well, dang it!

I sat the chips back down on their counter, putting them away before I got the urge to eat more. I leaned back beside them letting my elbows prop me up as I crossed my ankles in front of me. I scratched absently at my nose as I sat, deep in thought.

"Hiccup, huh? Funny name."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I heard Jack's door close softly behind me as I left. When I was sure he was no longer watching I let out the breath that had been caught in my throat the entire time. Deflating, I wondered yet again why he had bothered to help me in the first place, much more why he had cleaned me up afterwards. He seemed like a genuinely good person, but like I said earlier, helping me had caused the death of what would be his new social life.

I looked down at my watch and saw it was already 5:15. The weather was still freezing cold, and I imagined that the clouds really would be bringing snow that night. Not like I had any rejections to a day spent indoors, but just the fact that winter was really setting in made me cringe. Once the snow started in Berk, it didn't really stop until spring. That meant lots of sloshy walks to school in only half melted snow, and being constantly pushed into the mess by Snotlout. I groaned in annoyance at the very thought.

To me, winter was the absolute worst season.

"So much for the most wonderful time of the year." I grumbled, finding myself once more in a bad mood. The cold always tended to bring me into this kind of depression, making me feel even worse about the events to come. The heavy door that served as the entrance to our house was locked. Something unusual, especially at this time of day. It wasn't a problem, though. I just pulled my key out of a pocket in my backpack and opened it.

Or I would have, had there been a key.

I fumbled around in the pocket, searching frantically for it. We didn't leave a spare on the porch because of my Dad's fear of someone finding it. This was bad. This was really, really, really bad. With an exasperated groan I gave up on the pursuit of the key and banged my forehead on the door. This only reminded me of my growing headache. "Oh come on!" I moaned, sliding down the door to sit at its base.

That was _just lovely_. Exactly what I needed on a cold day like this. I pulled my jacket's collar up over my ears, trying to save my nose from dripping. If Dad was already this late there would be no telling as to how much longer it would be until he got back. I sighed, noticing that even the rug underneath me was chilled through. I would definitely be catching a cold tonight. I yawned, depression and anger melting into one large mass of exhaustion. Or maybe it was just the fact that I just had my ass handed to me again. Honestly, it didn't matter.

My breath started to make little clouds as the sun lowered further into the sky. No rescue came. I pulled my knees up to my chest, huddling up as my teeth began to chatter. Seeing no hope for an escape, I decided to rest my eyes and let some of the day's ongoing stress ebb.

* * *

It had been a while since Hiccup left, and I found myself carrying more boxes into my room. My uncle clapped me on the shoulder as I passed. "Still not done there, mate?" He asked, a thick Australian accent covering the words. I let out a sigh, "Nope." The tall man just laughed, taking in my form as I attempted to lift a third box onto the already slipping pile. "You're gonna drop those." He said, smirking as it slid up over the last one.

I put on a triumphant smile at the small feat. "Oh really? How much you wanna bet on that, joey?" I teased, a mischievous grin pulling the sides of the smile tighter. He leaned back on one foot, his hand coming into a "thinker's pose" underneath his chin. "Hmmm… I'll give you dollah if you can make it." He said, challenging me. "Sounds like deal."

He gestured up the stairs, inviting me to try.

I didn't waste any time finding my way to them, carefully ascending each one. Aster looked on with an amused expression, truly thinking I wasn't going to make it. I was up to the last step when my foot caught the edge of the right rail. I tripped forward, boxes swerving outwards as I tried to catch my balance again. And I did, almost too late. The top box was hanging in a very precarious position atop the others. About to fall, but not quite there yet.

Back down in the living room Aster's booming laughter made it all the harder to not move, my own silent chuckles faintly shaking me as I regained a studier balance. "Shut up! You're gonna make me drop them!" I laughed, continuing my walk down the hallway into my room. I heard Aster's large footsteps behind me as I entered the final stretch of hallway. I eyed the top box with a determination that could kill. My uncle's eyes did the same as I stepped through the threshold.

"Almost… there…" I whispered, as if trying to comfort the tipping boxes. Then in one quick motion, I swiped the top box down, laying it on the floor beside me while keeping the last two in my other hand. I slid both of my palms to the side of the first box as I leaned down, gently placing them on the floor. When I was sure they were settled, I took a big jump into the air. "Ha! Take that, old man kangaroo!" I burst, pointing one finger in his direction.

His face held a playful pout, but I could tell he wasn't really unhappy about losing. "Yeah, yeah. Eat it up, ya bloody ankle-biter."

I chuckled once more at his choice of words. "Ankle biter?" Gosh old man you're getting weirder by the day." I told him, rolling my eyes.

He smirked, and began wagging his finger at me. "That may be true. But at least I'm not taking a nap on the front porch."

"And may I ask who _is?_"

I dragged an empty box over to his side and flipped it over, preparing to sit down. "Some kid in front of the next house over. The boy was just leanin' against the door taking a snooze like it was the middle of blooming July!"

I jumped quickly at the news, "Wait. Hiccup's still outside?!"

The sentence caught my uncle off-guard. "Hiccup? And what do you mean, 'still'? Was he over there earlier?" He questioned, but I was already out the door. "Be right back!" I called over my shoulder as he chased after me with a worried look. I slipped me shoes on, instantly hating the feel of them. I would usually just walk out barefoot, but it was already pretty dark outside and I could see the foggy windows as an indication of how cold it must have been.

Not bothering to find a jacket, I ran out door and onto the porch. Sure to my uncle's word, there was Hiccup. He was trembling inside his jacket, but since his eyes weren't open I supposed that he was, in fact, sleeping. I jogged down the sidewalk and over to his porch where I could see little puffs of water vapor pour out of his mouth and mine with each exhaling breath. Dang it was cold!

I rubbed absently at the sides of my arms, immediately regretting having not brought a jacket. "Hiccup?" I asked, crouching in front of him on my toes. My words stirred him, and he sleepily blinked at my in confusion. "Eh? Jack what're you do-"

He suddenly gasped as he noticed where he was. "Oh, crud. It's this late already?!" He asked, teeth starting to click together from the cold. I stared back at him in confusion. "What the heck are you doing out here?" I asked, noticing how red his knuckles and nose were. He shifted a little, wincing as his hands made contact with the cold concrete below him.

"Um, uh… I kinda… lost my key." He said, looking up at me with a sheepish expression.

I let out a sigh and lowered my head into my hands, running them through my hair. This guy really was hopeless, huh? "You're having one heck of a day, aren't you?" I asked, offering him an encouraging smile. His mouth turned into a small line and he ducked his head in embarrassment. "Um, yeah… I guess you could say that."

I slipped back up into a standing position and offered my hand to help him up.

* * *

I took the hand gladly, groaning a bit as I got up from my sitting position. It felt like I had been frozen in place for hours, which probably wasn't far from the truth. My face and fingers were numb from the biting cold, calling out in pain whenever I tried to move them. Jack eyed me with an apologetic expression.

"I wouldn't have minded if you had just come back over, you know." He said, punching me lightly in the shoulder. I scratched the back of my neck, a habit I had formed years ago when I started to be an awkward person. "Oh, uh… yeah sorry. I just thought my Dad would be back earlier than this." I told him lamely.

He chuckled, "Yeah well, he's apparently not back yet, so I'm gonna take you hostage to make sure you don't freeze to death."

I felt a lazy smirk lift the side of my mouth, "'Take me hostage', hmm? That sounds relatively frightening."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up before you get frostbite."

I shook out my right foot, bringing some feeling into it. "Is that some kind of threat?" I teased, remembering his last name.

"Hardy har har, Hiccup. Like I haven't heard that one before." He said, turning away to walk down the sidewalk again. I followed behind, happy to be offered a house. Before, something like this never would've happened. Not only was I an outcast in school, but to almost the entire town as well. Only a handful of people might have helped me. Even though Astrid lived close, and would've been happy to let me in, her parents would veto the idea outright, and would have kicked me out of the house. I could've gone to Gobber's, but that would've taken at least twenty minutes to walk, in which time my Dad could've already gotten home.

So it was very, very lucky indeed that this happened to be the day Jack moved next door.

He led me back to his house, opening the door for me just like before. This would make the second time he had saved me in one day (and if that didn't make me look like a wimp I didn't know what would). Remembering that with embarrassment, I pushed past him into the warm place. At first there was only a bit of pain as my body reacted to the sudden temperature change, but then came the relief of the pleasant heat as it wrapped itself around my face and hands.

My jacket was only keeping the cold in, so I shed it quickly as Jack kicked off his shoes. "Thanks, Jack." I told him, fully surprising myself when the words came out un-stuttered. He gave me a gentle smile, "Nah, wish I would've seen you earlier so you wouldn't be the Hic-sicle you are now."

I was about to jab at him with a clever comeback, but was rudely interrupted by a loud sneeze. It scared Jack, who flinched back a step, but afterwards he just laughed at it. "You're sure you're name wasn't meant to be sneeze instead?" He quipped. I rubbed at my nose, trying to hold back the usual attack that came with it. "Ha ha, yeah. Very funny." I told him, my voice coming out in a nasally sound.

From above us came footsteps, hurried as they made their way downstairs. "Jack! Why did you just take off like that, you bloody wombat?!" A tall man with large feet and a head filled with spikey gray hair came stomping into the room. Jack waved his grumbling away with a short motion of his hand. "Sorry, sorry. I was just helping this snowball of our neighbor out." He explained.

The man gave me a quick once over, rubbing his right temple with two fingers. He was leaner than my father, but held the same kind of intimidation. He had swirling tattoos that covered the expanse of his uncovered arms and neck. But while I found him scary, he had a strange kindness emanating from him which I had never felt from my father. "So you're the bloke who decided to conk out on the porch, then?" He asked, a jovial smile covering his features.

I wrung my jacket in my hands nervously, "Uh… yeah, that was probably me…"

The man gave a hearty chuckle, turning back towards the stairs. "I'm turnin in for the night then, eh Jacky?"

Jack scowled at the nickname, but didn't say anything about it. "Night, Aster."

The name took me by surprise. I had read books where people called their parents by their first names, but it just sounded so weird. He walked over to the right and sat down on a big, fluffy brown couch. As I walked over he looked up at me with a smile, patting the spot next to him. I had to jump a little bit to get on the thing, it was so huge. Even when I wasn't sitting all the way back, my feet didn't touch the floor. I looked over at Jack, sitting all the way back and still being able to touch the ground easily.

I pouted in annoyance at the sight as Jack flipped through channels on TV. Eventually he landed on Animal Planet, some story about "the majestic ostrich". He didn't really pay attention to the show, but jumped off the couch, telling me to wait for him. I craned my neck forward as he disappeared up the stairs, only to reappear moments later, blankets in hand.

"Here, use this." He told me, throwing one into my lap. "Thanks."

The boy threw a second blanket down in the place he had been sitting earlier and left for the kitchen. I unfolded the thick quilt in my lap. It was made of fabrics that had no rhyme, rhythm, or pattern to them. Despite that, it was pretty, and the squares oddly complimented each other. Apart from that (the most important thing), was the fact that it was extremely warm. It made the last few frozen parts of me thaw out, from blue lips to nubby toes.

Unthinking, I sunk into the couch. It was so fluffy and warm and… gosh I was tired.

* * *

The kitchen floor was cold underneath my feet, but I didn't really mind it. Cold had never really bothered me, even when I was a kid. The cabinet above me opened to reveal all of our dried and canned foods. There was an exceptionally larger selection in here than in the fridge. I picked through the unfamiliar cavity until stumbling upon what I was looking for. The box of hot chocolate mix came out and made itself comfortable on the counter while I went to go find some milk.

I was about to start pouring into the second mug when I remembered to ask for food allergies. The last thing hiccup would need today would be an allergic reaction, and judging from all the bad luck he was having today, he would probably have ended up in hives on my floor. That, to say the least, was not wanted. But, could one even get hives from milk and chocolate? Makes you wonder…

Setting the milk down, I jogged back into the living room. "Hey Hiccup, you're not allergic to anything, are you?" I asked, walking along the perimeter of the couch. "Hiccup?"

I looked down to find him asleep, the couch almost devouring him. His face was almost completely hidden between the cushions, pushing his freckled cheeks forward like a fish. I covered my mouth, attempting to keep the loud guffaws from escaping me. When he snored a little his lips would puff out even further forward. I tried looking away from the hilarious sight but found my eyes wandering right back to him. Who knew a sleeping person could be so funny?

After watching him for a good minute more I could no longer hold it back. A mischievous grin came swiftly to my face as I walked back behind the couch, out of what would be his immediate range of vision. This was going to be good. Standing above him, I reached my hands out within an inch of his face. As he steadily breathed out once more, I brought his nap to an end.

My hands clapped loudly together and he woke up in a fit, arms and legs flailing around him in confusion. "GYAAAAAAH!" He screamed, frightened by the sudden noise. He flung his head around from side to side, trying to find where I was, and eventually laid eyes on me, writhing on the floor. Loud chuckles rang out through the living room, sending me to my knees as they shook me.

"Hi- Hiccup! Your face! You just… AHAHAHAHA!"

Tears formed in the corners of my eyes and my sides started to hurt as he calmed himself down. Playful anger colored his expression. He rubbed at his face with a small groan, "Why… Why would you do that?"

I slowly sat back up, giggles still pouring forth heavily, "Because… it was just so… so tempting!" At that, he let his hands fall between his knees, tilting his head. "Tempting, eh? I hope you know that's a terrible excuse for giving someone a heart attack." He said, glaring. It only brought on another round of chuckles from me.

As the words left his mouth the same ringtone as earlier rang out. His eyes widened in surprise and he pulled his phone out of a pocket. "Hello?...Dad?" He sat up from the couch, pulling the phone away from his face as a loud voice came out of the speaker. He pointed his hand over to the kitchen, excusing himself as he walked over. "Ok, yeah but um…Dad? I… lost my keys before you got there, it wasn't like…" He trailed off as the voice went off on another rampage.

I turned around, sensing that his mood had changed into a rather bad one. I wondered if his Dad was mad at him or something for being out so late. The sun had already set and it was around nine o'clock. "Yes, yes. I know that. I, um, kinda fell asleep on the porch…"

I had to stifle a laugh at his sorry explanation. "Well I'm obviously not there _now_… I'm at the house next door. I'll be back in a second… No, Dad wait!"

I turned around to see him slipping the phone back into his pocket. He brought a hand up to the back of his neck, a habit of his. "I've gotta get back now. My Dad's home so uh, bye." He gave a small wave as he let his hand drop back down to his side and walked over to the door. "Oh, ok." I told him, seeing that something was off. "See ya then… but hey wait!" I stopped him, jogging over to his place by the door. He already had it opened about halfway, but shut it quickly as I approached.

"Yeah?"

"Would you mind walking to school with me Monday? If you want to, I mean." I asked, blushing inwardly at how stupid it sounded.

A small smile turned his lips, "Sure, that's fine. Just make sure you're up early, I leave before most people."

I nodded, a smile of my own coming forward. He pushed his way through the door, shutting it softly behind him. Once again I sauntered into the kitchen. I placed the mug that would've been Hiccup's back in its place and went to heat up the milk in my own. As the container turned lazily inside the microwave I wondered what he meant by "early". Did he have something like tutorials?

When the milk was done and the brown powder had been mixed into it, I climbed the stairs to my room. Mug in hand, I leaned my head against the wall beside my bed. I took a sip, the liquid instantly warming my mouth and throat.

"Heart attack, huh? Funny guy."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Morning came, and with it, extreme amounts of boredom.

"Toothleeeeeeeess. Why do I have to be grounded on _Saturday?_"

I held the black salamander in both of my hands. He was still growing bigger each day, much to my astonishment (and the quick emptying of my wallet on food). I wouldn't have been able to go outside anyway, because of the snow, but now I wouldn't have anything to do all day. My computer was gone. Phone, confiscated. Even my favorite books had been placed out of my grasp for the day.

My father wasn't mad about how long I had stayed at Jack's, but about how I had lost my key. Honestly, I was sure I didn't lose it. Snotlout and his group were always playing stupid pranks like that on me, and I would bet the moon that they were actually the ones who had taken it.

Toothless rolled around happily in my hands, his slick black skin easily traversing my own. I laid him down on my stomach, where he proceeded to wiggle around dumbly. His small pink tongue hung out of the left side of his mouth, making him look like a panting dog. I sighed deeply, my stomach reaching up and down, making him lose his balance for a couple of seconds.

I looked him over, noticing how much he looked like a frog without his tail. He had lost it almost a year ago, and it had only regrown to a smallish nub since then. It made it hard for him to get around, and he slipped around a lot without it.

"Am I really this boring? Can I really find _nothing_ to do?" I asked him, reaching my hands behind my head. Toothless squirmed his way up to my chin, his Kelly green eyes looking up into my emerald ones. He sat there for a few seconds, just staring. Then eventually I felt something wet as he licked my jaw. "Ewww. Your tongue is slimy."

I pushed him back onto my belly, rolling up into a sitting position on my bed. I silently stroked him, looking up at the time. Lucky me, lucky me. I woke up early. It was only 7:00, and all I had for entertainment was a slippery black salamander. That, and homework, of course. I still hadn't made my way downstairs for breakfast, avoiding my father until he left the house.

He tended to keep away most of the time, including weekends. The man never stopped running and doing and working that I barely saw him anyway, so it didn't bother me much. In fact, this morning I couldn't wait for him to get out of the house and leave me be. At least then I would have a change of scenery and something to snack on. Who knows, maybe if I baked a cake for him he'd let me off the hook.

It sounded better than nothing, anyway.

I decided to go searching in order to find absolutely anything to keep me occupied until he left. Pushing Toothless beside me onto the center of the bed, I walked over to my desk. It had been a long time since I had looked inside it for anything other than the occasional calculator or ruler, but it was worth a try. As I rifled through the drawers, I noticed the great amount of unopened notebook paper I had never used. What made me ever think I would need so much?

I sorted through each drawer, coming up with nothing more interesting than a pack of my favorite peppermint gum (it made me very happy actually). I retreated back to my bed, defeated in my search. The desk had apparently not been worth a try. I jumped up onto the bed, landing on my back.

With a very distressed squawk, a certain salamander went flipping into the air.

"Toothless!" I yelled, as he floated in midair for a moment. I swear he gave me the most human-like glare I have ever seen on an animal in those few seconds. If looks could kill, I would've been salamander bait. Then with one final yelp, he landed.

On my head.

It took me a second to digest that fact, but then all my previous boredom melted away.

"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The event had me rolling off the side of the bed in deep laughter, trying desperately to keep Toothless on the bed. I hit the floor, but it only made me laugh harder. At this point, my father would have clearly heard me. Did it matter to me, no. It absolutely did not.

My sides hurt with the effort. It had been a long time since I had laughed so hard. "T-Toothless? You ok?" I asked, throwing my arms back up over the side of the bed. He looked at me with wide eyes, as if he were calling me crazy. Which I temporarily was, drunk with laughter as I had been. He seemed otherwise unharmed, only a little scared.

I heard large footsteps coming down the hallway. Then my door being whipped open. "Hiccup! What do you think you're doin', makin' all that noise so early in the morning?!" My father, ruddy faced and business suit clad, yelled at me.

"S-sorry… Dad." I apologized, instantly sobering. The anger in his eyes softened as he watched my mood change. He wasn't a bad Dad really, he just had anger issues. I had dealt with them my entire life, but they still scared me somewhat because I had a terrible habit of getting on his last nerve.

He leaned in the doorway, his large form filling it completely. "It's fine, fine… I'll be heading to work soon so… just make sure you eat breakfast." I had to admit, for someone so scary-looking it was a bit funny that he was just as awkward talking to his own son as said son was when talking to everyone else. Maybe we really did have something in common. He gave a small nod, approving his own message. With one more questioning glance over my place on the ground and the salamander on my bed, he closed the door.

"Yeah, love you too Dad."

I pulled myself up onto my knees and reached over to scratch Toothless under the chin. He made a strange noise, something like a mix between a purr and a squawk. Rolling up fully onto the bed, I made myself comfortable. I heard my father's footsteps in the living room below me. They lasted for a little while, pausing here and there every so often. A few more minutes of this pattern continued, then came the opening and closing of the front door, signaling his departure.

I pushed off from the bed and walked over to my window overlooking the lawn. Pulling the curtains back slightly, I peeked out. Dad got into the car, shuffled through some papers in his hands, then drove off. I let out a sigh. "Free at last! Free at Last! Thank God almighty I'm free at last!" I threw my hands up into the air, stretching out all of the early morning kinks. "Want some breakfast, bud?" He squeaked happily in my ear, tongue hanging out once more. "I'll take that as a yes."

We slid down the stair rail together, something I always liked to do when Dad wasn't there. The kitchen was warmer than my room and smelled like cinnamon, just like the cinnamon rolls that sat on the table. They were sloppily iced, but tasted like heaven. Our other neighbor, Nicholas St. North, had made them for us a few days ago, and only a few remained of what had once been three trays.

North was a big guy, the only person larger than my own dad that I had ever known. He had never made me feel small though, so I guess that was the reason why I hung out with him so much. I would've gone to his house yesterday, but he was off on one of his business trips. I never knew where he went, but he stayed away for days and even weeks at a time when he left for one. The funny thing was, I had never seen him in a suit. Well except for times near Christmas, when he would don his red Santa gear and talk to kids in the mall. But that was a different kind of suit. Never before had I seen him in anything else than what he was comfortable in, his large gray pants and red shirt (sometimes complimented with a black fur hat).

He certainly fit the Santa Claus persona well. Every time I came over to visit he would greet me with a large smile, and was actually glad to see me. That, or he was just a really, really good actor (still, I chose to believe the former). I picked up one of the gooey rolls and took a bite. They were still just as soft as they day he brought them over. I never understood how he managed to do that.

"Yupp, tashtes wike heavem!" I said, mouth filled with pastry. Toothless eyed the roll, unsure of it. "Well it's not for you, dummy." I told him, flicking his nose a little. He scooted back a little in confusion, but regained his post a few seconds later. Sitting the roll aside on a napkin, I went to look inside the fridge for him some food. On the bottom shelf sat some fish I had put aside for him, packaged away in bags. "You know, Toothless, you'd be much less of a pain if you didn't refuse everything but fish." I told him, opening one of the bags.

He squirmed excitedly on my shoulder, eagerly awaiting the treat. I grabbed his small dish from its place in one of the cabinets and sat it on the table for him, placing the fish inside. Toothless jumped from my shoulder onto the table, impatient. As soon as my hands were gone and the fish emptied out, he went right for it. Table manners were apparently out the window today as well. "How can something so tiny eat so much?" I asked him, washing my hands.

He paid my question no mind, too preoccupied with his meal. I finished the cinnamon roll not too long after, and went to take another look outside. The window was frosty around the edges, a perfect frame to the snowy world outside. White draped across houses and trees, I could imagine what the woods behind us looked like. Even though it was beautiful, it made me unhappy. I walked back from the window, not wanting to think too much on memories that didn't need to be brought back up.

* * *

"Twelve… forty-five?"

My sleepy voice drug out in the silence of my room. Aster would already be gone by now. He must've left early to have not woken me up like he always did. The darkness of my room was penetrated by invading light from the window. "Ick."

I'm usually a morning person, but like the saying goes, you give me an inch and I'll take a mile. But more in regards to sleep than measures of length. I rolled over sleepily on the bed, trying to return to my dreams, but they wouldn't come back. I sighed, giving up. I flipped my legs over the side of the bed, cringing as they met the cold floor. The sensation sent shivers up my spine and goosebumps down my arms. "Ah… I've missed the cold."

Aster moved to Australia as soon as my father and him were out of high school. He had been living over there for 15 years when I was dropped off at his doorstep, a scrawny little eleven-year-old. I don't know what happened to my parents. I never met my mom. I know she was never married to my dad, and my uncle refuses to tell me the story behind that. Everyone who knows anything about the situation seems to agree with his silence, and though I was curious about it, I never tried to ask.

I pulled on the blue sweatshirt I lived in. It instantly warmed me as the fabric sunk into its usual form. I didn't bother with socks or shoes. They were horrible, disgusting creatures and I wanted nothing to do with them. Downstairs, I looked around for any sign of life. Finding no such evidence, I concluded that my uncle was definitely gone for the day. The soft brown pants I slept in hugged my legs as walked into the kitchen.

The new house was beginning to feel more like home each second and it was nice. Maybe it was just the weather, but it felt like I had returned to my natural habitat. Sydney was a beautiful place, don't get me wrong, but I had just felt so out of place the entire time I was there. I think Aster could see that, and that's why he tried so hard to get me back to the states. There was no point in trying to say I was a burden to him, he would never let me. Still, I knew I was, and tried hard to do my best for him and to cause as little trouble as possible.

The sound of morning birds chirping was oddly absent, and I wondered if they had all left home for someplace warmer. It was already November, so that would make sense. Grabbing a bagel from the breadbox, I looked out the small window above the sink. What I found pushed me into pure bliss.

"Woohoo! Snow day!"

I jumped up, and tossed the half-eaten bagel aside. I didn't care if it made me look like it kid. It was snowing, and I was going to make the most of it.

The feeling of shoes oddly didn't bother me as I pulled them on. They would be the only thing I really needed to be able to head outside. I flipped up the hood of my jacket and stuffed one hand in my pocket as I swung the door open. I was greeted by a cold breeze, lightly making the snow in front of me flutter in its grasp. It sparkled and threw little rainbows out in every direction, reflecting light back up into my eyes. A large smile came over me as I took the first step off the porch, a satisfying crunch meeting my foot where it landed.

To me, winter was the absolute best season.

The only thing that put a damper on the situation was the fact that I was alone. I hadn't gotten Hiccup's number yesterday, and I didn't know anyone else in town. The thought made me stop for a moment. I hadn't introduced myself to Hiccup's father yet, whoever he was, so it wouldn't be good to bother him this early. I looked over at their driveway, noticing that there was no car parked there. I wondered…

I still didn't have the guts to walk up to the door, but was there some way to get Hiccup's attention? I rifled through the small bag in my head that kept potentially risky ideas inside. Eventually, I came up with the perfect one. Through the snow, I made my way through his lawn. This felt remotely like being some "peeping Tom" but did it really matter to me? No. It absolutely did not.

I looked at the appearance of each window, the color of the curtains and so on. Some of the rooms were obvious, the living room and kitchen both had windows without anything covering them mostly. Others were not so easy to identify. I eventually knocked down the number of possibilities to two rooms upstairs. One had deep green curtains, the other brown. Either of the colors could've belonged to him.

Well, it was a fifty-fifty chance. Worth a try, right?

I chose the window closer to the road with the green curtains. I was only going with that because it was the same color as his phone. I walked over to the road and dug through the snow for some small pebbles. Finding a good handful, I walked back over to the window.

Dink.

Clack.

Pink.

Crack.

"Whoops."

The pebbles had hit the window gently, I thought. But… that was apparently not the case. The smallish crack in the right corner of the window served as proof of that.

Then the curtains moved.

And Hiccup appeared.

"You know, Snotlout, you could at least give me weekends off." He said, opening the window so he could see out. When it was fully open, his eyes came to rest on me with an annoyed sort of look. They changed quickly to surprise as he realized who I was. He didn't seem to notice the crack, and I wasn't about to point it out. "Jack? What are you doing out there?" He asked, a small smile making its way onto his face.

"The question is, my friend, what are you doing in there?" I called back to him, and his smile quickly faded. "I'm, um, grounded… I guess?" He leaned out the window, shivering in the cold air. "Wait, was it because you stayed over late with me? Oh gosh, I'm so sorry-" I began, but was cut short with the frantic waving of his hands. "No, no, no! It wasn't that. It was because I supposedly 'lost' my key." This came as new info to me. "Wait, so you didn't lose it yesterday?" I asked him, confused.

He tilted his head to the right and ruffled his hair, "Well, I thought I did. In the beginning anyway. Then later I realized that there was no way for it to get out of its pocket unless someone took it out. I bet you can guess who that person was." The wind blew a cold chill through me, a nice feeling I still wasn't used to. "Well that's no fair. This is the first snow of the year here right?" I asked, really sad that he was missing it.

He shook his head, "Eh, I don't care for winter much, so it doesn't really matter." He said, lips curled up into a fake smile. He seemed to use that smile a lot, and I wondered what kept his real one hidden so deep beneath it. "Whaaaat?! You don't like winter? You… you're crazy!" I told him, shuffling closer to the window through the snow. "I mean, snow, for instance. How in the world do you not like snow?" I asked, trying to figure out his ridiculous aversion to the best season. He chuckled a bit, but no happiness reached his eyes, "Let's just say it's a bit too slippery for my taste."

Seeing that I wouldn't get anything out of him other than that, I decided to give up for the time being. "So are you coming out or what?" I asked him, returning to my original point. He shook his head. "You really must have a terrible memory there, Jack. I already told you, I'm grounded." He said, giving an apologetic shrug of his shoulders.

Dang it. He still had that sad smile on. It bugged me to no end that I couldn't make him show me a real one. Even last night, at times he seemed genuinely happy, but he wouldn't let himself show it. "Well that's no good. If you can't come out then I'll just have to come in." I told him, a mischievous smile creeping up my lips. He looked shocked for another second, and stood in disbelief. "Uh… ok, I guess. I'll go open the door then…"

He shook his head back and forth a few times, then shut the window. I was pleasantly surprised, it was easier to get him than I originally thought. I jogged through untouched piles of snow to his porch and stood in front of the door. It took him a bit longer than expected, but the door eventually unlocked and Hiccup opened it. "Hey." He said, pulling it wider for me to step inside. Not wanting to track anything through his house, I took off my shoes and sat them near a chair on the other side of the porch. I hopped briskly back across the cold cement to the door, jumping in. Hiccup watched me in amusement, "You could've just brought them in, you know. Our house isn't exactly fit for a clean freak."

I shrugged, playing it off. "So this is the great Haddock residency, then?" I asked him, looking around.

The place was nicely decorated. It had a color palate of browns and dark greens that moved from wall to wall nicely. They had a large, but not overly fluffy couch and a kitchen with one of the largest fridges (meant for a home) I had ever seen. The carpet was soft underneath my feet and warmed my toes back up quickly. "Heh heh, yeah." He said, closing the door.

"I can't believe you don't like snow." I told him, still very curious about it.

"I can't believe you do." He said.

"Touché."

He went into the kitchen leaned on the table. "You like cinnamon rolls?" He asked, rummaging through a dish on its surface. "Eh, sometimes. Depends on how they taste." I told him, walking over. He pulled out two large rolls, each iced somewhat haphazardly. "Then you will love these. They were made by Santa." He said with a smirk.

"Santa?"

"Yes, Santa. You'll meet him later, I'm sure."

I smiled at this turn of conversation, and instantly became intrigued by the pastry. He handed it over, taking a bite of the one he kept for himself. "Yupp, shtill tashtes wike heavum." He said, icing lining the corners of his mouth.

_Oh my._

_Oh my?_

_Wait, what…_

"Ah haha… Is that so?" I laughed trying to get back into a normal mindset.

"You won't know until you try." He says, pointing the remainder of his roll at mine. I look over the thing, teasing him. "I dunno, Hiccup… Can one actually taste heaven?" I asked him, testing his patience. He is unaffected and sends another wave at the pastry. "Take a bite of that and you'll know." He replied, smirking. Looks like I was beat. Giving a large, fake sigh, I brought it up to my mouth.

"Heaven, huh? Funny taste."

* * *

_A/N- It would be really awesome of you guys to send me a review if you like the story and if you want to give me an idea of where you want the story to go._


	4. Chapter 4- Part 1

Chapter 4

I leaned on the table with my left arm, propping myself up. "Santa sure can cook, huh?" I asked, bringing the cinnamon roll back up for another bite. Hiccup chuckled, "Haha, I'll tell him you said so."

"Via letter?"

"Eh, close enough. I think a text would suffice, though."

I laughed a little at his comment as I chomped through another bite. The icing melted slowly, giving way to the sweet cinnamon flavor underneath. It was the best one I've ever eaten. After it was finished I wanted another, but didn't ask for one. Hiccup finished his own two bites behind me and leaned on the table beside me. "See, what did I tell you?" He asks, smirking. I rolled my eyes, giving in. "Alright, alr- YAAAAAAAAAH!"

I screamed as I felt something slither over my hand. I reeled backwards, almost slamming into the wall on my way. Hiccup jumped, scared by my sudden outburst. We both looked at the table at the exact same moment. I expected him to have my same sort of reaction I had when he saw what it was, a black frog-looking thing squatting upon the tabletop, but he laughed instead. "Toothless, what did you do?" He asked, picking up the small animal.

I stared at it, wondering what the heck it was and why Hiccup was holding it. Hiccup looked back at my face, noticing my confusion. "This is Toothless, my salamander." He said.

Ha ha, very funny.

"Hiccup… that is not a salamander. Salamanders have tails… and are small." He shook his head, waving my thought away. "He does have a tail. Well, I mean… he _did_. It was torn off in an accident last year and never really grew back. The size, though, I don't know about. Maybe I feed him too much?" He said, smiling sideways at me. I took another look at the slimy creature, focusing in on where a tail would be if there was one.

It was difficult to see, but there was definitely a small, raised line there. So it really was a salamander. Maybe. I still wasn't entirely convinced. "So… His name is Toothless?" I asked, before he could comment on my disbelieving face. He nodded. "Yupp… I'm not exactly good at names I guess." He said, a weak laugh following the words.

My eyes reluctantly shied away from the animal, finding their way back to the cinnamon roll, a more pleasant sight. "I'll be right back." Hiccup said, bounding off upstairs with the lizard-thing in hand. He was gone no more than a minute before reappearing downstairs alone. "I put him up so he wouldn't bother you anymore." He explained, walking over to the sink to wash his hands. He walked back over to my side on the edge of the table, flipping the towel he had dried his hands with casually over his shoulder. "So… where did you move here from?" He asked, twirling the end of the towel around his slender fingers.

I took a breath, preparing myself for the long story that would follow. I told him about my father and my uncle and how I was left with him in Sydney and how I had now found myself back in the states. "Wow." was his immediate reaction. I chuckled a little at the sight of his worried face. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine. I guess it kinda helps to tell the story sometimes too, you know? Keeps them close…" We fell into an awkward silence, one not even I could fix.

Glancing about for anything to make myself look less bothered, my eyes once again found the cinnamon roll. Hiccup soon found my gaze there. A small smirk climbed up the side of his mouth. "Here," he began, "I'll split the last one with you."

I looked away in surprise and embarrassment, thinking of how funny it was that a cinnamon roll could make me so greedy. Of course, these were no ordinary cinnamon rolls, as had been called to my attention. These were "Santa's" cinnamon rolls, and whether or not he actually made them was irrelevant, they were still the best thing I had ever tasted. Hiccup ripped the sticky roll into two crooked halves, giving me what seemed to be the larger of them.

We worked our way through the last few bites until there was nothing left. "Ah, thanks." I said, returning to my usual self, thankful for the distraction from the earlier awkwardness. "No prob." Hiccup said, crossing in front of me back into the living room. I licked the last remains of the roll off my fingertips and followed him. He grabbed an Xbox remote and flashed the cover of a game in my direction. "You play?" he asked, travelling to the other side of the couch and immediately flopping down into it.

Even on his own couch, his feet didn't hit the floor. Poor shorty.

Laughing inwardly to myself, I slipped down beside him, grabbing a second remote. "You bet." I said, giving him a playful glare. He wiggled around, sitting Indian style as he propped his elbows up on his knees. "Good." He said, throwing his own challenge my way.

We played for a few good hours, and even though I could pride myself as the champion among my friends back in Sydney, this little runt beat me every single time. Finally, I gave in. "Dang it, Hiccup!" I bellowed as he slashed up my avatar for the 50th time. He laughed, letting his weight fall back into the couch cushions. "Sucks to suck." He replied, fully enjoying his victory. Crap.

Sunday came, and with it, more snow. Somehow, I had found myself back at hiccup's door.

* * *

*Ding Dong*

"Ughh…"

*Diiiiiiiiiiing Dong*

"Grrrr…"

*Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding Dong Ding-*

"Whaddaya Waaaant?!" I yelled, throwing the door open. I had fallen asleep on the couch after Jack left, too lazy to make the long trek up the stairs to my room. Cold air whooshed around me, ruffling and lifting my loose brown sweater around my waist. It spread like tickling fingers through the fabric, finding its way across my ribs and into my sleeves, giving me shivers. "Brrrrr…" I winced, wrapping my right arm around my left shoulder, rubbing slightly to warm it up.

I was greeted by Jack's lazy early morning smirk. "Hey Hiccup." He said, tilting his head. He reminded me of an owl in the way he always seemed to be looking forward yet far away. Resisting the urge to sigh loudly, I let my arm fall and swing back, inviting him in.

He shook his head, staying put. I shot him a questioning glance, wondering why he was forcing me to let all of my beautiful warm air out. "Hurry up and go get changed, I'm taking you for a ride." He demanded, twirling on his heel to walk back down the steps. I couldn't hold back the sigh this time, "I don't know if you forgot or what, Jack but there's a little problem with your plan." I said. He twisted his head back at me in curiosity. "I'm still grounded, remember?" I told him, shaking my head.

He pouted a little, but then came a glittering in his I eyes I knew could mean nothing but trouble. "Yes…. And?" He asked, throwing himself back towards my direction. "And that means I'm not allowed to leave the house, stupid. We covered this yesterday." I told him, a look of annoyance covering my face. This seemed to make him only laugh at me. "Geez, you're grumpy when you wake up, Hic." He said, winking. Usually I would cringe at the name, but when Jack said it… I don't know. It sounded… softer? "You know it's already two o'clock, right?"

I leaned into the doorway, giving up on being warm. "Oh yeah? Well you're the one who woke me up so you can blame yourself." I said, refusing to budge. He let out a small breath, and crossed in front of me into the house. He wiped his feet on the mat, making little pieces of snow ricochet onto the tops of my feet, giving me goosebumps. After he was all the way inside, I shut the door. He took off his coat, revealing the blue hoodie he seemed so fond of underneath. "What are you doing?" I asked, still too tired to think too much.

"I'm forcing you to come with me." He said, beckoning me forward, further into the living room. "Um… wouldn't you be leading me the wrong way, then?" I asked, confused. He laughed, "Well, you wouldn't be able to go out in nothing but your boxers and that sweater, now would you?" He returned, nodding in my direction. I felt a little blush make it up to my cheeks. "W-well, that won't be a problem, since I can't go anyway." I told him, staying put. He chuckled a little at my stubbornness, the same glint from earlier still in his eyes.

"Fine… I'll just have to rummage through your closet by myself, then." He said, and with that, went to bouncing his way up the stairs to my room. "Jack?!" I called out, unbelieving. When he didn't come down, I came up. I walked down the hallway to the door to my bedroom. "Ack! It's the thing!" He called out, scared by something. I assumed it was toothless, remembering the reaction Jack had to him yesterday. Jack stood by his tank with a look of disgust-slash-intrigue as he examined Toothless.

"So you're_ still_ scared of him?" I asked mockingly. He threw me a small scowl. "Shut up."

I laughed quietly to myself as he made his way to my closet door. "Jack, are you kidding me? Are you really going to get me in trouble just for your own fun?" I asked. "I'm nothing if not persistent." He said. "You got that right…" I muttered under my breath. He opened the door to find my surprisingly neat closet. He showed a look of surprise at the lack of stuff inside.

He silently flipped through hangers, probably noticing how almost every shirt I owned was either brown or green. After a few more seconds, he found one to his liking and pulled out a pair of jeans. He flopped them on the bed and nodded pointedly at them. "Change and meet me downstairs." He commanded, pushing past me back to the living room. He wasn't going to let me get out of this. Oh well, maybe if I hurried I could get back before Dad.

I turned to my bed to see what shirt he had picked. I chucked to myself as I saw that he had picked out the only blue shirt I owned. I slipped off the brown sweater and put on the blue shirt. It had a crew neck and was really plain… I had used it for a cosplay once and never wore it again. I slipped on the pants and walked over to Toothless' tank.

I dropped a few bits of store-bought salamander food inside so he wouldn't starve until I got back and could give him some regular food. He looked at it like it was the most disgusting thing he had ever seen in his life. Which, as far as food goes, it probably was. I had spoiled him since the day I found him, and only on a few rare occasions like this did I ever feed that stuff to him. I jogged back downstairs to find Jack leaning against the table.

He smirked a little at his accomplishment. "You ready?" He asked. I held up a finger. "Yes… on one condition. I have to be back before my Dad gets off work at eight or I will be royally screwed." I told him. He smiled really big, happy that I had finally agreed, and bounced up and down on his toes a couple times. He reminded me of kid waiting for their parent to take them to the zoo or something. I grabbed my coat, while he went to open the door. I followed him out and we made our way outside to his car, which was already running in front of his house. He never intended on letting me stay home today.

We jumped inside, taking shelter from the cold. The radio was set to a station playing Celtic rock. He must've noticed my small smile because he switched the channel to a pop station right after. "So where are we going anyway?" I asked him, just now thinking of the question. "To the mall in Merk. Remember I lived in Sydney? Yeah, so I don't have much winter wear." He said. Oh, ok. Well this shouldn't take too long, then.

"Jack? You've been in there for _thirty minutes_ with _five shirts_… are you okay?" I asked through the dressing room stall's door. From inside came a rustling, and finally the door flew open. Jack's face had a determination of an Olympic racer. "_I can't choose._" He said, his brow wrinkling in discontent. I had to laugh a little at that. "Well they all looked fine when you showed me earlier, I don't see what your problem is." I told him and crossed my arms across my chest. He gave me a small sigh of disappointment. "This is serious, Hic. I pride myself in being a very well dressed person. I can't just buy something on a _whim!_" he said, the most serious look on his face I had ever seen.

I think I laughed for another thirty minutes afterward.

Then, five hours, three shirts, and a dark blue coat later, he called it quits for the day.

"God I'm starving!" Jack exclaimed as we flopped ourselves down into the seat of the car. We hadn't eaten dinner yet, and it was already…

"Gah! Jack! It's already 7:45!" I yelled, scaring him a little with my sudden outburst. He was confused for a second, but then he looked at the clock, just as shocked as me. "Dang it!" he quickly thrust his key into the ignition and turned it… only for us to be answered with a "Rrrrrr- tick tick tick tick tick! Brrrrbbb." He tried again. Same response. After about four more tries it was evident that we wouldn't be getting home on time, if at all.

We sat back in our chairs, pondering our next move. "Well crap." We both said in unison, and despite the situation, it ended up being a little funny. "Well, I'd rather not call my Dad, so do you think you could call your uncle?" I asked, a little bit of hope in my voice. Jack turned to me with an apologetic look… "My uncle's out of town, visiting a friend in New York until tomorrow night." He said. "What kind of person goes to New York for one day?!" I asked, panic starting to take its hold once again.

On top of all that, I now had a headache.

Wonderful.

Oh, and Toothless would need to be fed.

* * *

I looked at Hiccup and the nervous wreck he was quickly becoming. "Calm down, Hic. It's okay." I assured him, patting his shoulder. "You need to call your Dad." His eyes showed the fear that sentence immediately brought him, but you could tell that he knew it too. After a while he finally sighed and pulled out his phone. He hovered over the call button for a moment, but finally found the courage to press it. It rang for a few seconds, Hiccup's free hand in a fist at his side.

"Hey… Dad?"

I took the moment to step out of the car and take a look at the engine to see if I could figure out what was wrong (even though I knew zip about cars). I popped the latch and lifted the hood to find a bunch of mechanical parts I didn't know the names of. I really should've paid better attention to my uncle when he was attempting to teach me about all this…

I fiddled around with a few things I thought were safe before finally giving up. Since there wasn't any smoke coming out of it I assumed it was safe, at least for now. I closed the hood and peered through the window at Hiccup, whose face was calmer than I expected it to be. I decided it was safe to climb back in, and as I did, Hiccup said his goodbyes and hung up. He looked over at me with relief written all over his face. "Well…?" I asked, wondering what had happened.

"Weeeell… he can't come pick us up because his trip is going to last later than it was supposed to, but I have a backup plan now." He said, a smile coming across his face. "You got enough for a night in a hotel?" he asked, the smile fading a little. "Well, yeah. I've got my debit on me." I said, deflating a little. He breathed out a sigh of relief. "I'll pay half when we get back, but I need to call someone real quick… You've got a smartphone, right? Wanna try finding us a cheap hotel room or something?" he asked, scrolling through his contacts to another person. I went to Google and typed in a search for hotels in Merk. The list popped up when I heard the faint sound of the person answering on Hiccup's phone. It was a girl's voice, that much I could tell, but the volume was set too low for me to pick out individual words.

"Hey, Astrid." He said, looking out the window.

"Yeah, I know… I kinda need you to do me a big favor…"

He then went on to explain our situation to whoever this Astrid girl was, finally taking a break when she interrupted him.

"Yes… I know I'm stupid. Astrid will you please, please,_ please_ pick us up tomorrow?... Yes… I know tomorrow's Monday… Yes… I know I'm extremely stupid."

Hiccup bit his lip a little at the direction the conversation was going. I found a decent looking hotel with a nice price.

"Asriiiiiiiiiiiid! Please?! I'll… take over your shift in football hell for a month!" he promised. I looked at the hotel's available rooms.

"Really?! ThankYouThankYouThankYou, I shall write sonnets in your honor! Many sonnets! I'll text you the name of the hotel later, kay?...Alright. Goodnight, Astrid."

Hiccup hung up with a little "Yes!" escaping his lips. I flipped my screen over to show him the motel.

"I take it we have a ride home, then?" I asked, inwardly laughing at Hiccup for the promise he had made her. He nodded his head, "Yupp, Astrid should be able to make it." He said, smiling. "This is the best one I could find within walking distance. It should be fine for one night." I told him. He nodded in approval. "Good job." He said, leaning back in his chair.

A little while later, after we had packed up everything in the car and locked it, we were heading down the road to the bed-and-breakfast I had found a couple streets down. We walked up to the check in counter and rented a room for the night. The lady looked at us a little funny, but didn't ask any questions. We were assigned a room on the second floor, the top floor. Even though we could've taken the stairs and made it faster, we took the elevator. Why? Because elevators are more fun than stairs.

We entered our room and I noticed it was actually very clean and nice-smelling. Hiccup seemed to be thinking the same thing because he said "Nice pick." There was only one bed, but it was a king size, so I wasn't too bothered by it. Hiccup threw his portion of the stuff from the car onto his side of the bed and I mine. It was 7:30, and now that all of the major worries had been taken care of, my stomach was demanding attention. "I'm hungry." I said, flopping onto the bed. Hiccup nodded in agreement. "Me too… Wanna order pizza?" He asked. I looked over at the bedside table for a pamphlet telling us what the nearest delivery pizza place's number was. I ordered us a large supreme pizza and two cokes. Hiccup was laying on his stomach beside me, facing towards the TV at our feet instead of the headboard. He was flipping through the channels, settling on an old re-run of Family Guy. I honestly couldn't stand the show, but didn't say anything. "Hey, I'm going to get through the shower before the food gets here, I have a good amount of cash in my wallet if he comes before I get out." I told him, sliding off the bed.

He tilted his head over his shoulder to look at me. "Good idea." Hurry so I can get through too." He said, waving me off.

* * *

I heard the water through the thin walls as the shower turned on. I texted Astrid the details about the motel, throwing in a couple extra thank yous. I tossed and turned on the bed, bored without something to do. I looked back at the bedside table and found the courtesy paper pad. It was filled with perfectly square 5X5 in paper. I pulled the pad over to my side and tore a page off. I started by folding the paper in half, then at a diagonal…

I had just made the last fold in the paper crane when there was a knock at the door. I flicked Bob to the side, grabbing Jack's wallet. I opened the door, where a very scary-looking tattooed guy held our supreme pizza. "Thanks…" I mumbled, ever the awkward one. He handed me back my change, never saying even one word. I closed the door and slipped the pizza onto the small desk in the corner. "Hey, Jack! The pizza's here!" I told him through the door. "Kay, thanks!" He called back.

I flopped back on the bed, waiting on him. The water quieted a few minutes later. Jack came out a few seconds later in his boxers, lightly drying his hair with a towel. You know, the people in Berk were big and stout, but none of them would've had anything on Jack. He had a six pack. A nice one. Oh, and rock hard biceps. He made me look like a limp noodle.

His eyes fell on the box, still unopened on the table. "You waited?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, figured I'd better… since you're buying." I said, throwing him a sly look. "Hah… fine." He said, knowing that this whole thing was his idea anyway. He walked over and opened one of the cokes, handing me the other one, and flipped the box open. The smell that had already begun to spread around the room was now let out in full force and my mouth began to water.

I went into the bathroom and brought back a couple Kleenexes since we didn't have any plates. Before we knew it the entire pizza was demolished and the cokes drained. "Ah… that hit the spot." He said, patting his flat stomach. He really was insisting on making me as jealous as possible. I let out a loud sigh, "Welp, Imma go take a shower, then." I announced, heading in that direction. "Have fun with that." Jack said, laughing at me.

I stepped inside, the mirror still covered with a light mist from Jack's shower before. I stepped inside and twisted the knob to the hottest temp it had. I had never been one for cold showers, even when I was a kid. I let the water flood over me, rinsing away the last bit of my headache, letting me relax. It had been a long day… even though it had only started at two o'clock.

I stepped out of the shower about fifteen minutes feeling replenished and happy again. I dried off and threw my boxers back on. Flinging the towel around my neck, I exited the bathroom. The cold air of the room was in stark contrast with the warmth of the bathroom, and made me shiver a little. I looked over at Jack, who was quickly changing channels on the bed.

* * *

There was nothing to watch, seriously. I hadn't seen a sadder selection of shows since kindergarten.

The water from the shower turned off.

Click.

Golden Girls.

Rusting sounds and squeaks.

Click.

Blue's clues.

The bathroom door opened.

Click.

Local News.

Hiccup stepped out.

Click.

Bob Ross.

Hiccup in his boxers.

*tiny gasp*

* * *

**Loooooooooooooooooong update. **

**Yes I know it has been forever... and you're all going to kill me when I say this... but I forgot I even started writing this...**

**BUT NO WORRIES!**

**I intend to stay back this time until the bitter end. Writer's block begone! **

**Hee Hee Hee Mr. Jack Frosty... we's about to make this story fun.**

*******As always, it would be lovely if all you lovelies would comment or send me a review.*******

**Much love and kawaii,**

**the-meeek.**


	5. Chapter 4- Part 2

Chapter 4 – Part 2

"What are you looking at?" I asked Jack, noticing his stare and mouth slightly agape. My question seemed to knock him out of his sudden coma, forcing him to clear his throat and look away. *cough cough* "Ah… ha. Nothing… Nothing at all." He said. I raised an eyebrow but didn't question it further. I flopped myself down on the bed beside him, noticing the station he had just flipped to.

"So… you paint?" I asked, thinking "The Joy of Painting" seemed like something he would not be slightest bit interested in. He flicked his eyes upward, taking notice of the show. "…Not exactly…" He said, softly chewing on the inside of his cheek. His strange answer piqued my interest. "Then what… exactly?" I asked. He threw a quick glance my way, almost as if he was afraid to look at me for some reason. I wondered what had happened while I was in the shower to make him act so weird. A strange program on TV maybe? It might've been one of those really disturbing commercials about girdles for grandmas.

"Well for one thing, I've never laid my hands on a _canvas_… per se." He said, finally deciding that was a safe answer. "So… what? You're a tagger or something?" I asked, not thinking him the type do something like that. "Um… yeah, actually." He said, reaching his hand up to scratch at the nape of his neck. My eyes widened a little in surprise, "No way! Seriously?" I asked, leaning forward to hear the rest of the story. This reaction seemed to take him by surprise, as he looked straight at me for a second or two. He just nodded his answer.

I leaned my head into my hand, tilting my face up toward him. "Do tell." I said, waving him on. He paused for a few second s before answering, "Well, I learned back in Sydney. I never did anything illegal really… or at least I never got caught when I did." He laughed slightly and stopped there. It was obvious he still needed a bit of a push to get the rest out. "So, you taught yourself?"

He shook his head, and his mouth immediately turned down in frown. It disappeared just as quickly as it had arrived, and he turned his face even further to the side to conceal what was there. I wondered if I had pushed too far. "No, a… friend… taught me." He waited a few moments before he continued with, "His name was Jamie."

I could tell something was really bothering him, and thought it better to just drop the subject instead of prying further. "You make it look like you lived some cool double life back in Sydney." I teased, punching him lightly in the shoulder. To my surprise, he leaned into my fist instead of away.

Before I knew what hit me, there was a sleeping Jack in my lap.

* * *

The sun was warm on the beach. It reminded me of the one time my parents had taken me to the Gulf of Mexico in my last summer with them. I always liked the ocean for this reason, and came as often as I could. "Hey! Snowflake!" a familiar, warm voice called behind me, yanking me from the memories. It instantly brought a smile to my face. I tilted my head back, finding the upside-down silhouette of Jamie in the sunset behind me. "Hey, you." I said as he came closer.

He was wearing the red and yellow wavy patterned swim trunks I gave him for his birthday, while I had on brown skinny jeans (too lazy to change into my similar swim wear). He plopped down in the sand beside me, his brown hair ruffling around in the breeze, his soft scent of ice cream and ocean spray surrounding us. "I didn't know you were coming today." He said, jabbing me in the side with his elbow. "Funny, neither did I." I replied, laughing at how I had just instinctually come to the same spot we always met at, just like he had. I dug the heels of my palms into the ground, leaning back on them to get a better look.

Yeah, my boyfriend was still extremely hot.

Then the face began to change, little by little. Hmmm… freckles…

* * *

"Jack?" I asked softly to the pile of person that had suddenly planted himself in my lap. When he didn't stir I tried again, "Jack? You okay…?" Still no answer. Heaving out a large sigh, I fell back on my elbows. There was no way for me to move him without waking him up. I simply wasn't graceful enough for that. Jack's head rolled up toward the ceiling, and I could see his face. He had a smile on in his sleep, having a nice dream, I guessed. The only sound in the room now was our breathing and Bob Ross' technique on painting waterfalls.

_"He has a nice face."_ I thought to myself. Not in a weird way, just stating a fact. He was the kind of guy girls went gaga over. Pale skin, perfect spikey hair, sharp chin… did he have a girlfriend back in Sydney? I seriously doubted that he didn't. My phone buzzed to the side of me, showing that I had gotten a text from Astrid.

-K, thanks. I'll be there tomorrow. So tell me more about this Jack guy.

The message was short and to the point, like they always were. I rolled my eyes at it, then typed in a reply.

-Have I ever mentioned that you are the best person alive? And as for Jack, he's cool. You'll like him, I think.

-Oh will I now?

-Yes.

It was obvious Jack wasn't moving from his spot anytime soon, so I made myself as comfortable as I could, crossing my arms behind my head and laying down. The process of paint thinning was now making its way to my ears, silently creeping up before slipping me into a deep sleep.

I'm back in the kitchen. Like looking at an old picture, it's the same scene over and over again.

She's making dinner, macaroni and cheese. She always knew that would make me happy. Dad had once again forced me to try out for a sport, but even in our small school district, they hadn't wanted me on the team. That was fine with me.

She turns around, a soft smile on her face. I always loved her smile.

"Momma…"

LB

"Mo… Momma!"

I heard a soft whimper behind me, and felt a crick forming in my neck. _What am I laying on?_ I was turned upwards towards the ceiling. I looked to my left to find the happily bearded face of Bob Ross. Not what I wanted to see. I flipped my head to the right, noticing the pillow was quite stiff…

I promise my eyes widened on their own… not because I wanted them to. You see, it was just _there_.

The sight literally threw me off the bed.

Onto the floor.

Loudly.

"Gyaaaah- ha!" Hiccup yelped, scared by my sudden movement out of his crotch. Which brought on the inevitable question, just how did I get there in the first place? I rubbed at the back of my head, noticing the bump that was rising there. "Ouch…" I threw both of my arms up over the side of the bed once again, looking back at what I was expecting to be a very surprised Hiccup.

What I encountered instead was a crying Hiccup. It was more depressing than seeing a stray puppy. The saddest part was that he didn't even know he was crying. He had the same surprise I was looking for earlier on a second glance, but I couldn't overlook the silent tear that had escaped down his right cheek. It was enough to snap me out of my previous thoughts of what I had been sleeping on earlier. I jumped back onto the bed unthinkingly.

"Hic?" I asked, "Are you okay?"

He shook his head. His face slowly contorted into the very definition of "suffering in silence". His eyes refused to blink, even though they were glassy and red now. His lips quivered slightly as they were pressed into a tight line. His hands were to his side, gripping at the sheets in quiet fear. "No… no I'm not."

I promise you, I didn't know what my hands were doing. You see, it just kinda happened…

Before I knew what was going on, my arms were slipped around Hiccup's waist, yanking him up into them. I pulled him onto my lap with no time to think about what was happening. I could tell he was embarrassed by the way he tried to pull away, but he was just too emotionally drained for that. After a while, when he realized I wasn't going to let him go, he gave in. He managed to keep too much noise from escaping his lips, but all the same, I could tell he was crying.

After a while, his sobs calmed a little. I felt him relax, and let him scoot a couple feet away. He awkwardly sat on the corner of the bed, refusing to look up at me.

Then came the thought.

You know, where something finally clicks?

Yeah, that one.

No longer able to stand the silence, and knowing that Hiccup wouldn't be the one to break it, I jumped off the bed. He looked up slightly, not quite to my face, but enough to see where I was going. I went over to the light switch and turned around. "…Let's go to bed, alright?" I said, reaching up to flip it. He looked up at that, probably thinking it was rude to ignore me while he was the only one in the room.

He nodded, "M'kay." and looked back away from me. I turned off the light and clumsily found my way back to the bed using the wall as my guide. I could hear the rustling of blankets as Hiccup climbed under them. Soon I found my way beside him, snuggling into the welcome warmth that surrounded me. After a few moments of quiet and those strange thoughts that come to your head right before dreaming, I was taken under by deep waves of sleep.

* * *

I don't think I've ever known anyone who snored louder than Jack.

Including my Dad, and that's saying something.

Even more surprising, it wasn't annoying, but almost comforting.

I was laying on the bed, facing the ceiling. I think. Have you ever wondered what's actually in the dark? For example, you wouldn't know if you had suddenly been transported to another world altogether would you? If someone's not watching you, and you don't know yourself… how do we really know where we are?

I think these are the thoughts that scare me the most. Now despite what some may call me, I don't get scared easily. I've been beaten up way to many times for that, and fear only makes things worse than they need to be. But as I rested there, it didn't matter where I was anyway. Embarrassing as it was to admit, it was nice to know I wasn't alone.

I felt the bed creak as Jack shifted his position. He rolled over in my direction, my back facing him. I pretended I was asleep, remembering my embarrassment from earlier. He must've woken up because he couldn't get comfortable and sat up in the bed. I decided to keep playing dead and tried to make my breathing even.

"…Hiccup?" He whispered, half sleepy-drunk from his former stupor. I didn't reply. He sighed a tiny bit.

"You really make it hard to forget things, you know that? Just as soon as I broke up with him too…"

...

..._._?

..._.?!_

* * *

**Hehehehhehehehhhehehehehhehehehehhehhhehehehehhehe hhehhhehehehehe.**

**Heheheheheheheheh.**

**Heh.**

**Parte dos.**

**Yeah I know it's short... and depressing... THENEXTONEWON'TBEASBADIPROMISEFORGIVEME**


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